From A Forgotten Past
by shadow-fire3
Summary: When a new innocent comes into their life the Halliwell sisters learn some secrets that were better left forgotten...
1. Prologue

Disclaimer - I do not own _Charmed_ or any of the characters. I will not be making any money from this simple story.

Prologue

The light rain that had been plaguing the city for the last two hours had finally abated leaving a glossy sheen everywhere. Little traffic was on the streets when a SUV came tearing around a corner before crossing over into the wrong lane. The driver yanked hard on the steering wheel, managing to drag the vehicle into the right lane. A few seconds later another vehicle appeared following the SUV. The driver of the car seemed to have more control in driving as the SUV crossed into the wrong lane again.

Charlie Garretson chanced a quick glance in the rear vision mirror before turning all his focus onto keeping the vehicle on the road. He swore under his breath before turning down another street. So far luck had been with him and he had avoided any serious accidents but now his luck had run out. The street he turned onto was busy, not only with other vehicles but also with pedestrians. He slammed his foot down on the breaks and swore loudly this time. The other vehicle was still behind him and he knew that they wouldn't stop. He didn't know where he could go and he didn't know who could help him.

Charlie began to dodge the pedestrians, ignoring the outraged people as they yelled their abuse at him. He shook his head in frustration but continued through the people. He looked back and saw the car was having an easier time getting through the crowd. The rest of the people had moved well out of the way giving his pursuer a clear path leading directly toward him. Charlie muttered a few words under his breath and reached a hand up to his neck. Fumbling slightly, he drew a chain out from around his neck and gripped the pendant that hung from it. Once again he murmured a few words and glanced behind him.

A small explosion made him smile in relief as he saw the left, rear wheel give way. He kept one hand on the pendant as he quickly turned down another series of streets. The road ahead of him was clear and he put his foot down, jetting forward in a sudden burst of speed. A wave of relief washed over him as he checked the rear vision mirror one last time. No one was following him anymore.

Charlie sighed deeply and turned his focus back on the road in front of him. He barely had time to yell as someone stepped out in front of him. He jerked the wheel to the left, barely missing the person. He saw that it was a young girl who had been talking on her cell phone and a string of curses exploded out of his mouth. He served back into his lane but overcompensated. The SUV lost traction on the slick surface and Charlie desperately tried to get control of the vehicle but he knew that he had no time. He looked up and saw two people watching with confused looks on their faces. Something about them called to him and he ripped off the pendant that he had been wearing. As Charlie felt the wheels lock he wound down the window and prepared to throw the pendant in their direction when the sound of squealing brakes alerted him to the return of his nemesis.

He threw the pendant out the window and directed it with his mind into the hands of the girl who had started forward. She looked at him in surprise but he barely had time to register it as the SUV slammed into a street light. He felt his body pull tight on the seatbelt and a loud crack sounded in his head. A low whine began in his ears as a wave of nausea flooded over him. His whole body felt as if it was on fire and there was a throbbing pain in his right arm.

He tried to focus on getting out of the seatbelt but his arms weren't obeying him. A loud rapping on the window caused him to look up into the eyes of the girl who had caught the pendant. Her dark hair set off her pale features, which were currently creased in panic. He could vaguely hear that she was yelling something that sounded like 'Leo' or something along those lines.

Suddenly the door was pulled open and he felt someone grip him under the arms. He cried out in pain as he was dragged out of the car but was very grateful at the same time. The whining in his ears was getting louder but he tried to push it away, he didn't want to endanger these good Samaritans.

"Oh my god. Leo! Leo we need you."

Charlie wondered who she was calling when another face came into view. It was a boy who was looking concerned and slightly queasy.

"I can't heal him," the boy said.

"I know, Chris, that's why I'm calling Leo," the girl replied, a hint of sarcasm covering the panic.

"We have to orb him to the manor," the boy said suddenly.

"Demons," Charlie tried to murmur. His throat was too dry so he swallowed. "Demons," he tried again.

The boy, Chris, leaned over him again, eyes wide this time.

"Did he just say what I think he said?" The girl said.

"Yeah."

"Okay let's go."

Charlie felt two sets of hands on him and he knew that his luck was changing once again. He tilted his head slightly so he had a view of the street behind him, albeit an upside down view. He saw the car that had been following him and he saw who sat behind the wheel. He shuddered as he felt the wave of hate hit him before passing out.


	2. So it begins

Disclaimer - I do not own _Charmed_ or any of the characters. I will not be making any money from this simple story.

Chapter One

"_love and hate get it wrong_

_she cut me right back down to size_

_sleep the day let it fade_

_who was there to take your place"_

-Bush "Comedown"

Piper Halliwell sat on the floor watching as her oldest son played contentedly with her favourite pots and pans. At first she had been in a state of shock to see her precious cooking materials used in such a brutish manner but now she was amused to see how much enjoyment he got from making as much loud noise as possible. Piper smiled as he attempted to sing along and she was glad that Phoebe had gone into work, she was stressed enough as it is and Wyatt starting his first rock band was enough to send her over the edge.

Thinking of Phoebe, Piper clicked her tongue, feeling like a mother hen again. Since Prue had died she had been thrust into the role of the big sister, making her more neurotic than ever. She sometimes felt as if she had three children instead of the one and a half that she already had. Smiling ruefully, she plaited her hair while listening to her budding musician.

Wyatt had begun to drum loudly again and Piper felt a painfully too familiar throb around her bladder. Chris was up to his tricks again, namely aiming sharp, swift kicks to her bladder. She struggled to her feet and made her way quickly to the downstairs toilet, conscience of Wyatt's noisemaking the whole time. She was just finishing up when she heard a large crash downstairs. Instantly on alert, Piper ran into the conservatory only to find Paige and Chris pacing frantically as Leo leaned over an innate form. The familiar glow coming from her husband's hands told her that he was busy healing somebody.

"Hey, what's going on here?" Piper asked, stooping down to scoop up Wyatt.

Paige looked up, a frown on her face, as she played with something in her hands. Piper scanned the ground and saw the culprit of the crash. A new vase lay in pieces on the ground.

"Sorry mom," Chris began.

"New innocent," Paige interrupted. "He crashed right in front of us."

Piper looked from her son to Paige, a look of confusion on her face. "Huh?"

Instead of waiting for a coherent answer she gave Wyatt to Paige and went over to where Leo was busy healing. She looked at the young man who lay on the couch and instantly felt sorry for him. He was covered in scratches and she could see that one of his arms was in an awkward angle.

"What makes him an innocent?" She asked as she turned around to face her half-sister and son.

"He mentioned demons;" Chris explained when Paige didn't answer.

Piper noticed that she had put Wyatt down on the floor and he was playing with the pots again, though on a lot quieter level. She sighed as she wondered if she would ever have a demon free day again.

"He also threw this to me;" Paige spoke, holding out a pendant.

"So...?" Piper asked, knowing that there was more to the story.

"Telekinetically," Paige finished.

Piper took the pendant, which was hanging on a fine silver chain. The pendant itself was an intricate design and Piper thought that it might be Celtic in origin. As she held it in her hand she realised that it wasn't getting warm, in fact it remained very cold.

"Hey," she said in surprise.

"I know," Paige replied.

Leo moved back and Piper turned around to see the young man was now sitting up with a slightly sheepish look on his face.

"You must be Leo, then," he murmured. "Thank you for..." He indicated the healing.

Leo smiled. "You're welcome."

"Hey, are you feeling okay?" Piper instantly went into protective mode.

He nodded and offered a weak smile before staring at the pendant that she held in her hands. Piper looked down at it as well and smiled.

She held it out to him. "Here you go, safe and sound."

"Thank you, kindly," he said. As he took it from her hands, Piper was certain that she heard a slight accent.

"I'm guessing you're not from around here?"

"Good guess. My name's Charlie, Charlie Garretson," Charlie replied with an English tinged accent.

He held out his hand in Piper direction and she took it, wishing that Phoebe were here as they could really use her power of premonition. He stood up and shook everyone's hand, thanking them all. He was shorter than Chris but had otherwise similar features, apart from an intense brooding quality that Chris had mastered.

"I'm Piper and this is Paige, Leo, and Chris."

"I guess today is my lucky day if you are the Piper and Paige that I am thinking of," he replied.

Piper raised an eyebrow, questioningly.

"You are two thirds of the Charmed Ones?"

Piper was about to answer when the windows behind her suddenly exploded inward. She heard herself scream in fright as she spun around to face whatever was lurking behind her, bringing her hands up at the same time.

Paige Matthews echoed Piper's scream as small shards of glass flew around the room. Leo had moved over to where Wyatt sat and had quickly orbed him away and Chris had moved closer to where Charlie stood. Instinctively they had all moved into the best defensive positions available to them. Paige smiled ironically, thinking that they were getting way too use to explosions and demon attacks.

Paige turned her attention to the window and stared in amazement at the several figures that now stood in the conservatory. She could tell, from there appearance, that they were there for business. She could also tell that they hadn't realised whose house they had just imploded into. What was more surprising was that not one of the demons looked the same, it was as if a mixed group of demons had banded together.

"Look at that mess, boy, Piper is really going to kill you for that," Paige tutted.

She could almost see Piper rolling her eyes at the sarcasm.

"We want the boy," one of the male demons growled, pointing at Charlie.

"Sorry, he's not for sale;" Paige quipped, throwing Charlie a grin.

The demon growled again and raised his hand to reveal a rather large energy ball. He took aim and hurled it at Paige.

"Energy ball," Paige called as she redirected it at the demon that had thrown it at her. She smiled grimly as the demon disappeared in flames.

"I will never get tired of that," Paige murmured.

"If you give us the boy we will let you live." Another demon, female this time, stepped into take the lead.

"Still no on that," Piper replied as she blew up one demon and froze the rest.

"Thank you for that," Charlie spoke softly.

"No time for that. We need to get to the Book. Paige," Piper indicated the stairs.

"Gotcha," Paige nodded and grabbed Charlie's arm before disappearing in a swirl of lights.

They arrived in the attic and Paige hurried over to the Book of Shadows, rapidly flipping through the pages in an attempt to recognise at least one of the demons that were frozen downstairs. Occasionally she would glance up only to find Charlie staring at her, a worried look on his face.

She heard him utter a startled gasp as Piper and Chris appeared in front of him.

"Why are they after you?" Chris gasped, holding his side.

"You found anything, Paige?" Piper called as she helped Chris to a chair.

"No specifics, there are too many different ones down there."

Paige continued to flick through the book looking for a general spell to get rid of their demonic problem.

"Piper? Paige? Chris? Where is everybody?" Someone called.

Paige looked up suddenly, catching Piper's eyes.

"Phoebe," they said at the same time.

"Hey, where are you guys?" Phoebe called again.

Paige orbed downstairs startling Phoebe. Before Phoebe could say anything Paige put her hands over her mouth and orbed them both upstairs.

"Okay, what was all that about?" Phoebe demanded the minute Paige removed her hand from her mouth. "And who are you?"

Paige saw Charlie jump in fright before smiling sheepishly.

"This is Charlie, our innocent of the week," Paige replied.

Charlie waved slightly only to go flying through the air when the door was blown open behind him.

To be continued...


	3. From the past

Disclaimer - I do not own _Charmed_ or any of the characters. I will not be making any money from this simple story.

Chapter Two

"_If shame had a face I think it would kind of look like mine  
If it had a home would it be my eyes  
Would you believe me if I said I am tired of this  
Well here we go one more time..."_

-Lifehouse, _"Sick Cycle Carousel  
_

Charlie Garretson sailed through the air, landing with a resounding crash on the far side of the Halliwell's attic. He groaned twice before pushing himself into a sitting position as his head began to pound. Instinctively, he gripped his pendant and looked for the nearest demon.

The attic was in chaos as the sisters and their whitelighter fought the demons that were pouring through the door. Behind him crouched Chris, holding tightly onto Wyatt who was watching everything with a strangely sad look.

"Get him to Magic School, Chris. Now!" Piper ordered, pausing briefly to make sure she was obeyed.

Charlie stared in amazement as she returned her focus promptly to the task at hand. Shaking his head he concentrated on the horde of demons, cursing under his breath.

"Hey, none of that language here," Phoebe called before turning into a high kick, which sent a demon flying to the floor.

Charlie offered an apologetic smile before turning his focus on the demon that was currently stalking him. He held out his hand and the demon frowned before being slammed against the far wall. After murmuring a quick spell the demon turned to ash.

"What have you done to annoy these demons?" Paige quipped as she redirected yet another fireball.

Charlie shrugged. "Old family enmity."

"Hey Piper," Phoebe called in a sing-song voice.

"What?"

"Freezing them might be an option at this time."

Piper's eyes widen as her hands flew up. "Oh."

Charlie inhaled deeply and touched at the bump on his head, wincing as a sharp pain exploded.

"Well, well, Charlie. You did better than I thought, my boy," a cruel voice taunted.

"Who said that? Where are you? Why aren't you frozen?" Piper asked in rapid succession.

Charlie shivered as a familiar form wove its way between the frozen demons. The wealth of red hair was the first thing he saw as the demon made it's way towards him.

"Dhani you're not welcome here," Charlie growled, stumbling to his feet.

"Now Charlie, that's no way to treat an old friend," Dhani smiled, revealing fangs.

Paige looked between the two of them in shock, her mouth falling in a 'o' of surprise. "You two know each other?"

"Oh, it's the Charmed Ones. This is so exciting, I am a big fan of yours, really," Dhani exclaimed, eyes glowing with malice.

"We get that a lot," Phoebe scowled.

Charlie gazed at her expecting to feel surprised or afraid but for the first time in a long time he didn't feel the familiar fear welling up inside him.

"Get out, Dhani. I am stronger now and I will defeat you," he yelled, startling himself and all those around him.

He took a step toward her when he felt a chill go through him. A shadow seemed to fall on his mind and he felt himself fall to his knees.

"You can't escape me, Charlie, our bond is too strong," Dhani laughed cruelly. "As for the Charmed Ones, you should stay out of other people's business. Not everything that goes on in our world concerns you."

Piper, Paige and Phoebe stared at her in shock as she walked calmly out of the room followed by the demons suddenly bursting into flames.

"Ooh," Phoebe exclaimed as she jumped back in surprise.

Piper turned around and faced Charlie, a frown on her face and her hands on her hips. "Explain."

Charlie sighed and sat back, drawing his knees to his chest. He wanted nothing more than to go to sleep and wake up when this was no longer a problem.

"I am so sorry; I should have never gotten you involved in my problems."

Paige frowned and stepped toward him. "That's no way to talk. If you were in our city we would have caught up with you eventually, these things tend to happen to us all the time," she said, kindly.

Charlie shook his head, trying to ignore the ringing sound starting in his ears. "It's a long story..."

"Aren't they always?" Phoebe said with a wry grin.

"This one really is," he said. "Okay, I'm originally from Somerset in England but I have been travelling the world with my parents. As you can guess, I am a witch, same as my mother. My father, however, is just a historian." He grinned wryly.

"Chris and Wyatt," Piper exclaimed suddenly.

"Go, you have to look after your boys," Charlie told her, focusing only on her.

Without another word Leo wrapped his arms around Piper and they disappeared in a swirl of lights. Charlie stared at the spot where they had just stood for several seconds before turning his attention back to the girls.

"My mother was from a long line of witches and she was more than pleased to find that I was...um...'endowed.' At the same time, though, she was worried about me, since we were moving all the time. It was as if we were trying to escape something or someone, as it turned out."

"Dhani?" Phoebe raised an eyebrow.

Charlie nodded. "It seems that you can never escape your past even though my mother tried. It's hard to explain but it turns out that Dhani and my mother were related. They grew up together but had different ideologies, as you could have guessed. It seems that Dhani didn't take it too well and my mother had to take some drastic steps.

"Dhani, however, had already taken some desperate steps herself. She had gone in search of more power."

"It's always the power thing," Paige muttered.

"Unfortunately, she went to the wrong kind of people and got the wrong kind of help."

"Let me guess demons?" Paige said, grimly.

Charlie nodded. "But it turned out that they needed a favour from Dhani. She had the choice to turn another member of her family or kill them and since I am the youngest member of the family she assumed that I would be the easiest to turn or kill. Dad's safe and mum can protect herself."

Charlie stared at the sisters while he cursed inwardly. He wished he could tell them everything but that wasn't how he worked and he didn't know if they would want to help him after.

"Okay, so we have to find out what demon is fuelling Dhani's power and work out how to stop it," Phoebe began to talk and Paige turned her focus to her sister.

Charlie still held the pendant in his hand. Feeling the coldness radiate from it. He shivered once again.

"Damn it! Damn it all to hell," Dhani growled, storming around the cavern that now housed her.

"That's were we are already, my dear," a cold voice chuckled.

"You promised me," she turned on the speaker, a red glow tinting her eyes.

"I promised you nothing that I have not given you," he spoke again.

Dhani looked at her benefactor and grinned slightly. "That much is true," she purred.

She walked away from him, her hands in front of her. The rage was uncontrollable and she had to direct it somewhere. Her hands began to burn and she stared at them bemused as they ignited in a blue tinged flame.

"I'm coming, Charlie," she laughed, a deep throaty sound.

To Be Continued...


End file.
